I cannot shake the image of a dog walker, 10 or 11 leashes in hand, surrounded by a brood of yippy puppies with their tongues dragging on the pavement.

It is a fascinating notion that voting in Tennessee, and across the nation, has become a peculiar institution, where a few, with hardly a whimper of protest, have enslaved their fellow citizens.

We're not talking about the Koch brothers, or other rich folk who choose to invest their largess in politics; no, these "slaveholders," who are of all races, tend to be older and go to worship, would be offended by the notion they are enslaving anyone. Yet their neighbors have handed their freedom over to them.

Drop out

In January 1967, the 46-year-old pied piper of altered consciousness, sacked Harvard University psychology professor Timothy Leary, welcomed tens of thousands of baby boomers to the first Human Be-in at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco with the phrase:

"Turn on, tune in, drop out!"

Sixteen years later, Leary tried to explain his catchphrase.

" 'Turn on' meant go within to activate your neural and genetic equipment. Become sensitive to the many and various levels of consciousness and the specific triggers that engage them. Drugs were one way to accomplish this end. 'Tune in' meant interact harmoniously with the world around you – externalize, materialize, express your new internal perspectives. 'Drop out' suggested an active, selective, graceful process of detachment from involuntary or unconscious commitments. 'Drop out' meant self-reliance, a discovery of one's singularity, a commitment to mobility, choice and change.

"Unhappily my explanations of this sequence of personal development were often misinterpreted to mean, 'Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity.' "

The generation that changed the national conversation lost its way. Thanks, Tim. We seem to have taught our children well.

Tune in

And my generation needs to make amends to our children and grandchildren for the way we have devalued the ritual joy of citizenship.

We barely teach civics in school; it has been tossed in the schoolyard dumpster with history as subjects that have minimal utility in a world for which we must prepare our children — which seems like a shinier, techier version of the one we rebelled against.

As we gather with our families on this Easter Sunday, perhaps we can begin to make those amends.

Have you read the Tennessee Constitution? Do you grouse about government and politicians, demeaning both without recognizing your responsibility in creating what you're complaining about?

Have you asked your children and grandchildren what they think about the Tennessee Plan, or Tennessee Promise, or how the mayor seemed to have bungled his pet transit project?

I remember "tuning in" to incredibly interesting conversations during dinners with my grandparents and parents about our community, the politics and what should be done. And, though my perspective was naïve, it was welcome.

Turn on

As one of my ardent and critical readers would admonish, we don't need candlelight vigils or tree plantings; we need to get busy.

Tennessee has a wonderful history in American politics. In many ways you can say that the United States would not be united nor as vast without the leadership and commitment of Tennesseans.

For all his faults — and like the rest of us, every politician has plenty — Andrew Jackson made our state the most important during the years following the second American Revolution, the War of 1812, when we truly won our independence from Great Britain, and the rest of the Old World.

Jackson and his compatriots forged the democracy we have today.

They left us a legacy that we should take to heart in the first article of our constitution:

Declaration of Rights.

Section 1. That all power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and happiness; for the advancement of those ends they have at all times, an unalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper.

When we choose to enslave ourselves by ceding our votes to our neighbors, we besmirch those who struggled to make our state a great place to live, work and raise our children to honor the legacy we inherit.

Take back that leash, learn about who is running for what and act on your conclusions.

It is your job; enjoy it.

Reach Frank Daniels III, community conversations editor, at 615-881-7039 and on Twitter @fdanielsiii.